Photoprinting device



Aug. 22, 1944.

H. COQLEY PHOTO-PRINTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 3, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l HALCOOLEY INVENTOR.

jig a ATTORNEYS Aug. 22, 1944. H. COOLEY k 2,355,385

PHOTO-PRINTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 14 HAL COOLEYINVENTOR.

BY M

' ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,358,385rnororam'rmc DEVICE Hal Cooley, Portland, Oreg.

Application August 3, 1942, Serial No. 453,476

4 Claims.

Thi invention relates in general to photoprinting in which a photographis desired to cover only a portion of the finished. card or print and inwhich other matter is to be reproduced on the remaining portion of thesame adjoining the photograph.

In particular, this invention relates to personal identification'cards,such as those now required for workers in various branches of defenseindustries, and to similar cards, in which a photograph of the cardowner appears on the card together with descriptive information andother data. It is of course advisable that the photograph of theindividual be actually printed on the identification card and not merelprinted on a separate piece of paper and then attached to the card,since this latter method enables the original photograph to besubsequently removed and another substituted in its place for thepurpose of fraud. When the photograph is printed on the card itself,however, the proper positioning of the photograph with respect to theother spacing on the card and to placing of other printed or writtendata thereon present certain difficulties, especially when a largenumber of such identification cards are to be made in the least possibletime.

The object of this invention accordingly is to provide a photo-printingdevice or frame in which the entire card can be printed at once,requiring only a minimum amount of writing or stamping to be placedthereon after the card has been finished.

. Another object of this invention is to provid a simple device whichwill insure the proper positioning of the picture and the other data onthe card without any special effort or delay.

A further object is to provide a photo-printin device which can be usedwith a projector for the purpose of producing a picture of predeterminedsize and location on a card with the least expenditure'of effort andtime.

These and incidental objects I attain by means of the improved, simple,and easily manipulated photo-printing means for card holder hereinbrieflydescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved printing device shown inopen or raised position preparatory to receiving thecard to be printed;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the device in closed position afterthe card has been placed thereon;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device illustrating the actualprinting operation and the relation of the device to the photo p j ctor,the latter being shown in broken line;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the device with the hinged top orframe and cover .portion entirely removed;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation corresponding to the line 55of Fig. 4, but with the top or cover portion hinged in place and inraised position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation corresponding to line 6-6 ofFig. 4 showing an adjustable stop or positioning pin for the card to beprinted;

Fig. '7 is a sectional elevation of the floating card support orplatform corresponding to. line 1-1 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section of the top or cover of the device.

My device includes a base upon which a sensitized card may be positionedand held in place for photo-printing, and a specially-arranged framehinged to the base and so constructed as to permit printing of the photoon part of the card by a photo projector and the printing of othermaterial or related data on the other part of the card simultaneously.

The base I, Figs. 1 and 4, may be made of any suitable material, such asplywood or plastic material. A portion of the base is cut out, as shownat II in Fig. 4, and a floatingtable or card support platform I2 isinserted therein. The floating platform I2 is supported on a pluralityof springs l3 (Fig. 7) which are independently anchored to strips Msecured to the lower surface of the base 10. The purpose of thismounting of the floating platform I2 is to insure that the sensitizedcard wil1 be properly held against the printing frame or top portion ofthe device and to compensate for any non-parallel relation between baseand top portion.

The outline of the sensitized card to be printed is indicated by thebroken line IS in Fig. 4. When the top hinged portion, designated ingeneral by A, is in the raised position shown in Fig. l, the sensitizedcard is placed on the floating platform 12 and positioned against stopsll, l8 and 2| (Figs. 4 and l) the top edge iii of the card being placedagainst the stops I1 and I8 and the lefthand edge 20 being placedagainst the stop 2|. The stop 2| (Fig. 6) comprises a pin 33 slidablymounted in a flat metal support 34. The bottom end of the pin 33 is alsoattached to the metal support 34 by a spring 25 which holds the pin 33normally in th raised position shown in Figs.

1 and 6, but permitting the pin to be depressed by engagement with theprinting frame top A when this frame or top is closed down. The support34 for the pin 33 is mounted on the base 50 by means of the screw 35,permitting the support 34 to be swung to left or right, as viewed inFig. l, when the screw 35 is loosened, thus providing adjustment forcards of different lengths. A portion of the base is cut out at 33 toaccommodate the pin 33 and spring 25. The stop 11 comprises a pinsimilar to that of stop 21 and similarly mounted in a plate I! to whichit is attached by a spring (not shown) corresponding exactly to spring25 of the stop 2|.

The stop 18 is of somewhat different construction and is formed into alocking pin slidably mounted in the plate 19, having a notch 31 (Fig.adapted to engage and grip the upper edge of the sensitized card. Aspring 23 is mounted on the pin as shown in Fig. 5 so as to urge thesame downwardly. A curved arm 22, secured to the upper hinged portion Aof the device, is adapted to engage the lower end of the pin and to pushit upwardly against the force of the spring 23 when the top A is inextreme raised position. When the pin is so raised the edge of the cardcan be inserted into the notch 31 and when the top A of the printingframe is lowered slightly to the position indicated by the broken linesin Fig. 5, the spring 23, drawing the pin downwardly, will cause thenotch 31 to exert a slight clamping action on the edge of the card andprevent subsequent inadvertent displacing of the card. A recess 24(Fig. 1) is provided in the hinged top A to accommodate the head of thestop or pin 18, since this stop, unlike the stops I1 and 21, is notintended to be engaged by the top when the top is lowered. The base I0is also cut away at 38 to accommodate the curved arm 22.

The top hinged portion A or printing frame proper includes a main framemember 26 which is attached to the base In by hinges 21. A largerectangular section 28 (Fig. 1) is cut out of the member 26 and themajor portion of this cutout section is surmounted by an archedenclosure consisting of an arched wall 29 and two side walls 39. A lightbulb 30 (see Fig. 8) is mounted within the arched enclosure, havingsuitable socket connections (not shown) and adapted to be connected by asuitable wire cord to any convenient electrical outlet. The energizingof the light bulb may be controlled in any suitable manner. For example,I have found it convenient to use two switches in combination, namely, asnap-on switch 43 (Fig. 1) and a push button switch 31, so arranged thatthe bulb 33 will be lighted only when the snap-on switch 43 is turned onand the push button switch 31 is pressed. The snap-on switch 43 could ofcourse be omitted, but it serves to prevent any inadvertent lighting ofthe bulb due to accidental pressing of the button prematurely.

Two diffusing glass plates 3! and 32 mounted in the member 26,constitute the base of the arched enclosure, the lower plate 32preferably being flush with the lower face of the frame member 26. Thesetwo glass plates 3| and 32 cause the light from the bulb 30 to bediffused with equal intensity over that portion of the card positionedunder the arched enclosure when the top A is in lowered or printedposition, and the bulb 30 is lighted. The negative or film 43, for thatportion of the card which is not to contain the picture of theindividual, is mounted against the bottom face of the lower glass plate32, as shown in Fig. 1, and this may be conveniently done by means ofborder strips of adhesive tape, indicated at H.

The remaining space 42 of the rectangular cut-out section 28 of theprinting frame, located to the left of the arched enclosure as viewed inFig. 2, corresponds to the space on the card to be occupied by thephotograph of the individual. The printing of the photograph itself isdone by means of a projector 44 positioned as shown in Fig. 3. Theprojector and printing device should of course be set in their properrelative positions before the sensitized card is placed in the printingdevice. The outer surface of the arched wall 28 is preferably painted adull black to avoid any reflection of light from the projector, or givenany other finish suitable for this purpose.

The operation of my device is very simple. Assuming that the negative40, containing any arrangement of data, information, blanks, etc.,desired for that portion of the card, has been attached as shown inFigure 1, and assuming that the photo projector has been properlyadjusted with respect to the printing device the negative for thephotograph is placed in the projector and the sensitized card to beprinted is placed in the printing device. The stops I1, is and 21 enablethe card to be quickly and easily positioned even in the dark. With thecard thus in position, the top A is lowered onto the card. The negative40 will bear evenly against the sensitized card surface due to thespring mounting of the floating platform I2 on which the major portionof the card is supported. Assuming that the switch 43 has been turned onin the meantime, all that remains now to be done is to turn on the lightin the projector and to press the push button switch 31, which willcause the two printing operations for the two sections of the card to beperformed.

The light in the projector and the bulb 30 in the printing device,could, if desired, be connected to a single switch, for example, to aswitch controlled by the foot of the operator which would enable bothprinting lights to be flashed on simul taneously. Further modificationscould also be made without departing from the principles of thisinvention.

I claim:

1. In an identification card printing device, a base, a frame hinged tosaid base, said frame enclosing an area corresponding to the space onthe identification card to be printed, a housing supported on said frameextending over a portion of said area within said frame, a light locatedwithin said housing, the remaining portion of said area within saidframe adjacent said housing left uncovered, whereby a photo projectormay be used for printing in said uncovered area while a negativeattached below said housing can be used for printing the remaining area.

2. In a photo-printing device of the character described, a base, aframe hinged to said base, said frame enclosing an area corresponding tothe space to be printed, an arched enclosure supported on said framesurmounting a portion of said area within said frame, a light locatedwithin said arched enclosure, a diffusing glass plate in the base ofsaid arched enclosure, the remaining portion of said area within saidframe adjacent said arched enclosure left uncovered, whereby a photoprojector may be used for printing in said uncovered area while anegative attached to said glass plate can be used for printing theremaining area.

3. In a photo-printing device of the character described, a base, acutout portion in said base, a floating platform in said cutout portion,a

frame attached to said base, said frame enclosing an area correspondingto the space to be printed, a housing supported on said frame extendingover a portion of said area within said frame, a light located withinsaid housing, the remaining portion of said area within said frameadjacent said housing left uncovered, whereby a photo projector may beused for printing in said uncovered area while a negative attachedbelow' ing stop in said base for another edge of the identificationcard, said second stop including a slidable member substantiallyperpendicular to said base, a spring normally holding said member inlowered position, a notch in said'member adapted to engage the adjacentedge of said card and to exert a mild clamping action thereon when saidmember is lowered after the card edge is inserted in said slot, an armattached to said 0 frame engaging the lower end of said member,

whereby when said frame is raised said member will be pushed upward andwhen said frame is lowered said member will be permitted to be drawndown by said spring to clamp the card edge, said frame enclosing an areacorresponding to the space on the identification card to be printed, ahousing supported on said frame extending over a portion of said areawithin said frame, a light located within said housing,

0 the remaining portion of said area within said frame adjacent saidhousing left uncovered,

whereby a photo projector may be used for printing in said uncoveredarea while a negative attached below said housing can be used forprinting the remaining area.

HAL COOLEY.

